Koala’s new foot is a booty, mate
Grayson Perry on love & art for all
IT was no mean feet getting this orphaned four-year-old koala climbing trees.
Triumph’s fourth leg only had a stump with a small pad on the end when he was discovered next to his dying mother in Australia.
Carers tried for years to get him a prosthetic foot he could actually use and were contacted by dentist Jon Doulman after a social media appeal.
Jon designed and made him a small rubber prosthetic boot and the marsupial took to it immediately at his sanctuary home in East Lismore, New South Wales.
Veterinary nurse Marley Christian, who rescued Triumph, said: “It was a very emotional moment.
“Within minutes, his struggle was gone. It is a dream come true, the best possible outcome.”
GRAYSON Perry says there is no Mr or Miss Right – he reckons love relies on “rubbing each other’s corners off” to make a good fit.
The artist, known for his female alter ego Claire and giant vases, kicks off another series of his Art Club on Channel 4 tomorrow with the theme of week one being “family”.
Grayson and his wife Philippa recently celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary and were asked for the secret of their relationship.
He said: “What you do when you’re looking for a partner, you find someone in the ballpark and then you commit to that person.
“Then you grow together by affecting each other. And in that kind of, what my wife would call mutual impact, that breeds intimacy. And that makes a strong relationship.
“Me and my wife, we’ve both kind of rubbed up, we’ve rubbed each other’s corners off over 29 years, well it’s actually 34 years we have been together.”
Grayson, 60, and Philippa, 63, have been looking at thousands of pieces of art from members of the public to be shown on TV.
He urges people to be creative, saying the best art “doesn’t mean Joe Bloggs can’t have a go”.
In the first episode Grayson has his portrait taken by David Bailey and gave the Mirror a first look, while Nigella Lawson will appear in a future episode as a judge.
A new series of Grayson’s Art Club starts tomorrow, 8pm, Channel 4.
BRUCE Springsteen had charges of driving while under the influence and reckless driving dropped yesterday.
The multi-millionaire rocker, known as The Boss, was instead handed a £355 – $500 – fine after pleading guilty to drinking in a national park.
During the humourfilled hearing, the 71-yearold was asked by the judge: “Mr Springsteen, I need to know how long you need to pay that fine.”
“I think I can pay that immediately, your honour,” the singer replied.
The Dancing in the Dark star was charged at Gateway National Park in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, with drunken driving, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area on November 14.
He was on his motorbike and had stopped to take a picture with fans when one of them gave him a shot of tequila.
Springsteen necked it even though alcohol consumption in the New Jersey park was banned three years ago. When a park ranger approached him he admitted drinking two shots but refused
to take an initial breathalyser test. In his report, the ranger wrote the singer “smelt strongly of alcohol” and was “visibly swaying” back and forth.
But during the virtual court session Assistant US Attorney Adam Baker said the singer took a breath test at the ranger station and it was 0.02 blood alcohol concentration, below the 0.08 legal limit – leading prosecutors to drop the two charges.
When Springsteen was asked if he was aware it was illegal to drink there, he responded, “Yes, I was.”
Judge Anthony Mautone fined Springsteen £355 plus £28 in court fees.
More than 160 people logged onto the Zoom court session, which prompted the judge to joke: “This poor defendant can’t go anywhere in private.”
News of the arrest earlier this month came just days after Springsteen appeared in and narrated a Super Bowl advert for Jeep. The advert was shelved.
I need to know how long you need to pay that fine
JUDGE ANTHONY MAUTONE JOKES WITH THE MILLIONAIRE IN COURT